How to clear Judicial Service Examination

The Lex-Warrier Team arranged an exclusive interview with Ms. Sanchita Bhadkaria who has been selected as Judge in M.P. Civil Judge Exam, 2012. Ms. Sanchita is a B.A.LL.B (Hons.) graduate from National Law Institute University, Bhopal She deserves all admiration and our heartiest congratulations on her splendid success. This important, thought provoking and highly inspiring interview is being presented here in its original form.

LW: Achieving Top slots in the Judicial Service Exam is not a small feat; accept our heartiest congratulations on your splendid success.

Sanchita: Thank you so much for the wishes. However, the credit of my success goes to my parents, sister, teachers and friends who always used to encourage me for my studies and supported me in every aspect of life. Especially I am thankful to God without his grace I could not have achieved this success.

LW: Let us begin with a brief background as to your journey up till here:

Sanchita: Being a judge was my childhood dream. I opted for commerce with mathematics in 12th standard. After completing my 12th I got admission in National Law Institute University, Bhopal in the same year. After completing my graduation of 5 years I took two years to achieve this aim.

LW: Law has evolved as a multi disciplinary subject. What motivated you to join judicial services when most students today, especially those who are from National Law Schools wish to join the corporate field?

Sanchita: Being a law graduate from National Law School, I have many options to go for. Sometimes there was situation of confusion for me whether to join any corporate field or any advocate in Supreme Court or to prepare for judicial services. So, to avoid the confusion, in my second, third and fourth year I also interned in some reputed firms and with some Senior Supreme Court advocates. Then, at the end of my fourth year I finally decided to go for judicial services because in judicial services judges are independent to decide their own. There is a job security. It is a respectful job with no interference of boss in your work. In corporate field, they give you less salary in proportion to the hard word extracted from you. Since my father is a district judge, he has always been a source of inspiration for me.

LW: Well, preparing for the judiciary is considered to be a different ball game altogether. What was your strategy preparing for the exams?

Sanchita: Exactly, preparing for judicial services was altogether different from preparing for exams in our college. When I started preparing for judicial service, first thing is that I made a timetable for my studies. I know, all of us think that we cannot study according to the timetable but its all a misconception of our school days as well as college days. We can if we want. I totally agree that we cannot follow timetable exactly so keep 3-4 days extra. Our coaching classes are for 6 hours daily and I used to give 8 hours for self-study in addition to coaching classes. I divided my study time for each aspect. For example, Two hours daily for general knowledge, 1 hour for English 1 hour for computer and rest of the time for law subjects. I always believe in my hard work and had patience. When I used to do hard work there was automatic emergence of confidence. I used to be in touch with only those friends who used to encourage me and support me.

LW: What was your experience about the Examination Papers?

Sanchita: While preparing for preliminary exams, I had solved model question papers daily. This was of great help in preliminary exams as I had already gone through a variety of questions. While preparing for mains exam, I used to write a judgment daily, prepared many topics for legal and social writing. In solving the mains question paper, the first thing I decided myself that I m not going to leave any question and also my aim while solving question paper was to complete my examination within the prescribed time limit. It was very difficult to complete but I did it as I decided read the question paper once, start writing without giving a second thought, and specially restricted to the word limit provided.

LW: How did you balance your time with your Academic Calendar, Preparation for Judicial Service and other extra- curricular activities?

Sanchita: Since, I decided to go for judicial services in fourth year. So, I used to study general knowledge and some bare acts of major subjects like C.P.C, Cr.PC, Contract, etc. whenever I got some time in final year of my graduation. First four years I have given to academics and extra-curricular activities.

LW: Were you preparing for other career opportunities as well while preparing for Judiciary?

Sanchita: No, I had totally dedicated last two years in preparing for judicial service. I was focused on my aim though there were many hurdles in between.

LW: What all changes which you would like to implement/improvement can be done in the Judicial System during your Long Career?

Sanchita: Our Judicial system is running very smoothly. Pendency of cases is reduced in Madhya Pradesh as compared to other states. I just want to contribute to the society while giving fair and speedy justice.

LW: As we are into the field of encouraging the Spirit of Legal Research among Law Students and other Legal Professionals, some questions on research – Importance of Research in the field of Legal profession:

Sanchita: Research work is very important in the field of legal profession because through research we come to know many aspects of law in the specialized topic. Legal research makes sense when we understand how particular law books relate to the legal and political institutions that create law. All research has its objective and this objective is the collection of authoritative material relevant to your topic of research. These authoritative materials comprise legislation in force and judicial decisions. Legal research also helps to broaden up your mind setup.

Sanchita: Just want to tell them that one should believe in their hard work. Prepare for the exams confidently and have patience. People should also keep themselves focused to their aim. There will come many obstacles while preparing for exams it may relate to study or any problem relating to your personal life but you should always try to sort them out as soon as possible to concentrate on your studies as this is the part of life. If you do not qualify exams once or twice then please do not give up. Try and try harder until you achieve. You should decide yourself that your passion is to study and qualify the exam. All the very best to future aspirants.